Mechanism for numerically grouping booklets and the like



Nov. 24, 1953 c. J. SADLER I MECHANISM FOR NUMERICALLY GROUPING BOOKLETS ANDTHE LIKE 4 Sheets-Shed; 1

Filed Aug. 8, 1950 a l ---l INVENTOR. Cecil Joseph Sodler 2% AHorny- Nov. 24, 1953- c. J. SADLER 2,660,101

. MECHANISM FOR NUMERICALLY GROUPING BOOKLETS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 8, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Cecil Joseph Sadler B I? Attorney NOV- 1953 c. J. SADLER 60,101

MECHANISM FOR NUMERICALLY GROUPING BOOKLETS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 8, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. 5&7 Cecil Joseph Sudler Attorney Nov. 24, 1953 Y c. J. SADLER 2,660,101

MECHANISM FOR NUMERICALLY GROUPING BOOKLETS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 8, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. Cecil Joseph Sadler BY [I Patented Nov. 24, 1953 ""BOOKLETS ANDTHE-LIKE Cecil Joseph Sadler, Rose Bay, near Sydney, a; A

New South Wales,-Austral ia Application August s, 1950; SerialNo. 178,190

This invention relates to improved mechanism adapted'for use for example inthe printing industry for numerically grouping booklets andthe likes r V I A Itis'well known in the printing industry that aiteraipublications have been printed, collated, stitched andtrimmed, they'are normally transported ,to counting and packing tables or rooms and .it iswell known that final counting often has' togabe' done manually. For example, in one well known cycle vofoperations in the printing industry, the various sections required for each copy era publication are collatedand fed to a stitching machine and after stitching, the: various topics are automatically transferred to a trimming machine and imperfect copies are ejected automatically by the machine-itself. After trim ining, the copies are ejected from the trimming machine on to a conveyor or fiyer for counting and packing, and it will be appreciatedthat in. normal printing practice, as imperfect copies are ejected after stitching but before trimming (the finalzoperation), the number of copies reaching" the flyer is not always identical with the number of operating strokes ofthe trimming, machine, .so

that any known counting device registering from;

the operating strokes of the trimming machine, would notbe an accurate record ofthe number" of copies delivered to the flyer. Also, when copies are delivered to the fiyer in an unbroken sequence, the necessity for hand counting becomes obvious if such copies are to bepackedfor delivery in pre:-

use on printed publications only, but may be adapted for use in other spheres.

"= According to' the present invention the device is' mounted' uponthe framework of a newspaper trimming machine. The device has a feeler slid 6 ably mounted thereon which is adapted toengage each bookletasit is carried along the bed of the trimmingmachine after having been trimmed but prior to being ejected on to the flyer,

and for everystroke ofthe trimming machine and consequently for every trimmed booklet that is advanced by the trimming machine to a position beneath the feeler, a :ratchet wheel mounted the device is rotated-through a distance of one tooth, but if for some reason, such as by rejection 5 ofimperfectbooklets'prior to trimming, a booklet or sequence of booklets is not advanced toa position beneath the feeler, said feelerwill dropby gravity to its full extent and remove a pawl" from engagement with thesaid ratchet wheel.

The operation and action of the feeler, and

determined quantities such as. 12, 20, 25; 50, or, i

provide improved mechanism for numerical grouping which is adapted to operatein conjunc tion-with a machine performing the finalopera-e;

whereby said articles are grouped in; predetere mined quantities.

;.- The present invention will be relation to a guillotine or trimming machine per ratchet wheelo as described is inter-operatively armlwhich projects downwardly and outwardly fromtthe"devicegandlivhich is adapted, when the 1 ratchet wheel has been turned'through 360 degrees in. the manner described, to be swung inwardly overthetfiyer .into the path of the par-- ticularnbookle'tbeing'ejected from the bed of the trimming 'machine a't that particular moment,

iwhereby said booklet is forced out of alignment with the copies thereof previously ejected from theftrimming machine.

-Thus itWill' be apparent that if the ratchet wheelrhas twenty-five teeth, for example, every "twenty-ffifthbooklet delivered from the trimming machine iwilliberout' of alignment with theremainin'g. twenty four and subsequent. counting.

the trimming machine, the operation of thedis;

7 tion on articles to be delivered t0j ia conveyor,

ratchets, pawls, cams, stops and the like to'per-t forming the final operation on individual copiesof publications "hereinafter referred to as booklets,"

delivered rthereteo after stitching',' froin which 'said thereto.

placementarmis temporarily halted.

-The devicekasiistated; driven from the operatingfmechanisni of: the trimming machine and has incorporatedtherein the necessary gears;

mit-ithezsai'cl device (to? be operated in the manner described andfurther', should some heavy or large object be uriexpectedly advancedinto th path of the-feelenthe stem thereof is provided with a knee o rhinge*jointwhereby said feeler is raised away from the said object without fear of damage In order that the invention may be more readily understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective View of numerical grouping mechanism according to the present invention, illustrating the disposition of said mechanism and the frame thereof with respect to a known trimming machine partly in broken lines and a known fiyer associated with said trimming machine;

Figure 2 is an elevational view, with portion of the frame and portion of the displacement means removed, illustrating the mechanism according to the present invention in greater detail.

Figure 3 is a plan view of mechanism according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is an expanded perspective detail view of mechanism according to the present invention, the frame portion of the displacement means and portion of the feeler means being removed, and with various shafts broken away to more'clearly illustrate the invention.

a Figure 5 'is' a detail perspective view'of portion of. the booklet displacementimeans. according to thepresentinventionmw: t Q

Figure 6 is a detail perspective view of the secondary cam according to the present invention, illustrating one disposition of the various components associated therewith.

Figure 7 is a detail elevational view of the secondary cam illustrated in: Figure '6, showing the means for rotatingsaid secondary cam.

Figure 8 is a-detailp'erspective view of the maincam according-to the present invention, one-of the flanges thereof being removed to more clearly illustrate the disposition of the pawlcon trol lever with'relation thereto.

Figure 9 is a detail-perspective view of the ratchet 'wheel, feeding pawl therefor and portion of. the pawl control lever according to the present'invention.

Figure 10 is a diagrammatic elevational view according to the present invention of the secondary camythe main cam, portion of the ratchet wheel, the feeding-pawl therefor; the pawl controlleverand the slotted driving arm, illustratingthe disposition of these various components when" said slotted driving arm has been fully raisedat thecompletion of the up stroke of the trimming machine.

Figures 11, 12 and 13 illustrate the respective positions of the components seen :in Figure 10 when the trimming machine and hence the slotted driving arm, are in thepositions of'halfway down, fully dowmand half-way up respectively. J

According to the present invention, the frame Hlxof the device is'mounted uponea trimming machine of known construction capable of receiving magazines, papers, booklets and the like, henceforth referred toias booklets 9, portion l l of said trimmingmachine'and the moving table l2 thereof beingillustrated in Figure 1, and a conveyor or fiyer? l3; above which are diagrammatically illustrated detention'rollers l4 also of known construction, is illustrated in this figure, and it will also be appreciated that the'known trimming mamounted thereon as the device is designed to in dicate when groups of booklets have passed from the trimming machine to the fiyer l3 as will be explained in greater detail. Over-running of the said ratchet wheel I9 is prevented by means of a pinion 29 which is mounted upon said shaft l5 and is engaged by a pair of pawls 2|, which latter are freely pivoted with respect to the frame Hi and are urged together by means of a spring 22, see Figures 2 and 4.

A twin membered cam secured to the ratchet shaft [5, as seen in Figures 3 and 4, has a raised portion 23 on one of its members 24 and diametrically opposite which, but on the companion member 25, is a recess 25 corresponding to the said raised cam portion 23, see Figure 4, the purpose of which will be explained hereafter.

Referring again to the driving shaft l1, this has a slotted lever 2'! secured thereto outside the frame i9 and adapted to be freely coupled to the said driving arm l5, for instance by a roller 28 of known construction, engaging the slot 29 in said lever 27'." The'said shaft 11 has; a quadrant 30 mounted thereonfor imparting movement to a pinion 3| secured to the camshaft l8, the said shaft'll having a pair of lugs 32 secured thereto, between which a ratchet feeding pawl 33 is pivotally mounted; the said pawl'33 is seen in greater detail in Figure 9 and has pressure applied thereto by meansof a roller 34 which is mounted upon a pair of arms 35"carried upon a shaft 36 which is mounted in the frame-l 0 of the device, see Figures-2and 4 said shaft 36'a1so has pivoted thereto a ratchet detent 31, flexible pressure being applied. to the roller 34 and the detent 31 by means of a spring 33.

Reverting to the camshaft l8, which as stated above, has a pinion 3l'1n0unted thereon, this shaft l8 also has mounted thereon a cam 39, see Figures land '7, having external flanges 40, one of which has been removed in Figure 8 to facilitate the description. The said shaft l3 has loosely mounted? thereon a secondary feed cam 41 see Figure 6, and which has an abutment 42 formed in atrack 43 therein, the respective faces 44,45of said abutment 42 being adapted to be engaged by a pin 43' carried by the shaft 18 in lost motion manner; the said secondary cam 4| is provided with a slot 4! and peripheral notches 48, 49 which" latter are adapted to be engaged by pawlsifi, 5'! respectively, pivotally mounted with respect to the frame it and urged together by means of a' spring 52, the said pawls Bfiand 5| serving to prevent over-running of the said secondary cam 4| when the shaftlS comes to rest.

The said ratchet feeding pawl 33, see Figures send 9, which is the only means of' imparting rotation to the ratchet'shaft l5,'is adapted to be raised and lowered out of and'into' engagement with the ratchet teeth, by'a control lever 53', see Figures! and 8. v T i The said control lever 53 is mounted upon a Shaft 54 which is pivoted in the frame I!) and restsupon the'ma in cam 39 between the flanges and has a transverse extension 55 having a foot 56 adapted to extend into the slot 4! of the secondary feed cam 4!, see Figures 4 and 6. The outer end of the control lever 53 has sliding connection with a feeler rodf-ormecl in two parts 57 and 58 connected by a resilient coupling 53 and having a .feeler 6!! 'see' Figure- 1, disposed in the path .of the moving booklets 9, the said connection between said control lever 53 and said'feeler rod 51 being effected by means of a roller swivel 6| said'feeler rod 5! being-freely movable ve'r many suitable bearings 62' sec'uiee'te' the framelll. l Q, 7

Revertingn'ow to'the twin cam member 24, 25, this issecured to the shaft lfi in such manner that theraised portion 2? thereof coincides with, forfexample, the 25th tooth ontheratchet wheel I9 fora "purpose to be explained later. The periphery of the'cam member 'Mis engaged by the lower finger 63 of a bifurcated copy displacement lever 64 and the periphery of th-e companion cam member 25 is engaged bythe upper finger" 65 of the bifurcated lever 64, the said bifurcated lever 64 is pivotally mounted on a stub axle 65 having a nut 61 and extending from the frame it, see Figure 3.

The outer end of the bifurcated lever 64 has a slotted extension 68 see Figures 4 and 5, which engages a roller 69 on a pin 19 extending from a displacement shaft H which is partly rotatable in a bearing 12 carried by the frame In; said displacement shaft H has a displacement arm 59 secured thereto, upon the lower end of which is a displacement member M diagonally disposed with respect to the direction of travel of the booklets 9, said displacement arm 13 and displacement member !4 being normally out of the path of the moving booklets 9 as seen in broken lines in Figure 1 until moved into the full line position by the engagement of raised cam portion 23 with finger 64.

Operation In describing the operation of the invention, it should be explained that the trimming machine for example, to which the invention has i been fitted, is one having reciprocating vertical movement and also such that its table or conveyor I2 is capable of feeding booklets 9 from right to left as seen in Figure 1, only when the said trimming machine is moving upwardly.

If now at the completion of an upward stroke immediately prior to a downward stroke of the trimming machine, and a booklet is not beneath the feeler 60, then it will be noticed that the quadrant 39- and pinion 3! have moved the main cam 39 and secondary cam 4! into the position seen in Figure 10, and the pawl control lever 53 will be raised and supported by the main cam 33. At the commencement of this down stroke the foot 56 enters slot 41 in the secondary cam 4! and allows pawl control lever 53 to raise the ratchet feeding pawl 33 clear of the teeth of the ratchet wheel I 9, so that on continued movement of shaft H, the pawl 33 rides over the ratchet teeth without rotating the ratchet wheel I 9 and ratchet shaft l 6. At this position the slotted lever 27 has reachedthe position at the bottom of its stroke as seen at Figure 12. Meanwhile the secondary cam has moved to position seen in Figure 12.

The slotted lever 21 now moves upwards and in so doing the quadrant 39 and pinion 3| move the main cam 39 and simultaneously retract the ratchet feeding pawl 33, the'latter sliding over the inner end of the pawl control lever 53. The said main cam 39, at the extreme upward movement of the slotted lever 21 has raised the control lever 53 and supports the latter with the foot 56 above the slot 41 of the secondary cam 4|, as seen in Figure 10. If, during this upward stroke, a booklet 9 has moved beneath the feeler 65, then on' the next downward stroke of the a slotted lever 21, the main cam '39 moves from beneath the control lever 53 and the feeler 69 descends upon the booklet 9 while at the same time the feeding pawl 33 advances into engagei lll with? Q h. 9E h ilfefi h Wh 19, On q nt miet on i e s id ownward str the main cam 39 raises the lever 53 together with the feeler 60 and thepawl33 feeds the ratchet wheel l9 by one tooth and simultaneously with the movement of the main c'am39, the secondary cam {H moves to position seen inFigurelZ so as nto engage thev foot 56 of the extension 55 of control lever 53;, holding the latter raised, see Figure12, until-'justbefore completionjof thenext upward stroke when the position seen in Figure 10 (is again reachedand the, machine will continue to operate following the respective cycles referred to above depending upon whether or not a paper has been fed beneath the feeler 69 during the upward stroke.

When booklets 9 are passing beneath the feeler 69 and hence the ratchet wheel 19 is being rotated tooth by tooth in the manner described, it will be appreciated that when the tooth of said ratchet wheel l9 representing the 25th tooth thereof, has been engaged by the pawl 33 and the ratchet wheel 19 advanced by this tooth, the raised portion 23 on the member 24 of the twin cam secured to the ratchet shaft 16, will engage the raised portion on the lower finger 63 of the bifurcated lever 64 and cause said bifurcated lever 64 to pivot on its stub axle 66, see Figures 2 and 3, thus imparting movement, through the slotted extension 68 on the bifurcated lever 64, and through the roller 69 and displacement shaft H to the displacement arm 13, which will momentarily swing into the full line position over the fiyer I 3 as seen in Figure 1, and cause the displacement member 14 to lie in the path of the particular booklet 9 about to be ejected on to said fiyer l3 from beneath the feeler 69. Thus the said booklet 9 so engaged, also as seen in Figure 1, then represents the 25th booklet in a group and is out of alignment with the preceding 24 or the next 24 as the case may be, and meanwhile the displacement arm 13 and displacement members have been moved to the broken line position seen in Figure 1, by the raised portion 23 of the twin cam 24 moving from beneath the lower finger 63 of the bifurcated lever 64.

It will also be appreciated that when no booklets 9 are passing beneath the feeler 69, the ratchet wheel I9 will not be rotated for the reasons previously described, nor will the twin cam 2425 be rotated as it is also secured to the ratchet shaft l6, and therefore the displacement arm 13 will also not be operated, so that no matter how many booklets 9 are rejected prior to the trimming (the final) operation thereon,

the 25thbooklet delivered to the fiyer l3 will always be moved out of alignment on said fiyer l3 with respect to the other 24 thereof as an indication that a group of 25 for example, of booklets has been dealt with. r

I claim:

In combination, mechanism for sequentially advancing booklets and other mechanism for numerically grouping booklets so advanced, said last named mechanism comprising a ratchet having a plurality of teeth equal in number to the number of booklets desired in each group, and

a cam having a single tooth angularly registered with one tooth of said ratchet, said ratchet and said cam being mounted on a common shaft; booklet displacement means actuated by said cam for displacing all advanced booklets having ordinal numbers that are multiples of the number of teeth on said "ratchet; a pawl for driving said ratchet, said pawl being actuated in response to 7 8' each operation .ofsaid f rst named mechani m; :References Cited in the file of :this vpatent alcontrol lever having a 'footed extension, said lever "being connected at oneaend thereof to a UNITED STATES PATENTS feeler, and at the other endlthereof being in contact with said pawl; an eccentric cam in contact 5 gi i Nam-e Date Withsaid control leverand a peripherally Ermold et a1 1894 Y Y 1,135,536 Labombarde et a1. Apr. 13, 1915 notched cam freely mounted ad acent to said ec- 1 153 294 Dunnebier t 1 s t 14 1915 centric cam, said notched cam being capable of 1464306 Au ustme e a is 1923 coming into contact with said extension of said 1860223 Bmggham 1 5 1932 lever, said notched cam being adapted to be dIlVSIl 10 1,999,292 Halvorsen Apr. 30! 1935:

in 10st motion manner with respect to said ec-'- c ntr m- CECIL JOSEPH SADLER. 

